Hero?
by Kakis
Summary: A lonely man broods. Has he chosen lonelyness, or was it forced upon him by society?


**Hero?**

The world was quiet. Only the wind made itself heard, blowing freely across the plains.

He was sitting, motionless, on a large rock. His thick, black cloak billowed around him, and his shoulderlong, black hair blew in his face. It covered a pair of green eyes, staring unseeingly into the distance.

Two years. For two years now, he had been living here alone, cut off from the rest of the world. There were those who had tried to persuade him to come back, but every time he had declined. "I'm comfortable here, don't worry about me. I'll let you know if I need anything. Anything at all." Because this was what he wanted. Really. He'd rather live here than in a large city where he would constantly be surrounded by people. People who would stare, point and whisper.

Sometimes he missed his old life. He missed being twelve years old again, spending time with his friends at Hogwarts. It had all been so innocent by then. _They_ had been innocent. Curious children with a knack for landing themselves in trouble. But all that was gone now. Replaced with a harsh reality that finally had caught up with them.

It didn't hurt thinking about them anymore. No, he had long ago ceased to feel. But he had felt once. Once, what seemed a hundered years ago. He had even loved. A fleeting image of a young woman with black hair passed before his eyes. A second later it was gone, replaced by the familiar faces of a red-haired boy and brown-haired girl. Then there were others: a group of red-haired people, a man with long, white hair and a beard, and another, younger man with black hair.

Suddenly the images changed. There was the black-haired man again. He was holding a wand, and suddenly he toppled backwards. He fell and disapeared. And then there were the boy and the girl again. They were lying beside each other on the ground in the middle of a forest, and he was on his knees between them. He screamed out his agony and anger before collapsing on the hard, cold ground.

He turned his face against the wind and blinked a few times to get rid of the images. They never really left him, reminding him constantly of what had happened. Because of what he was, he had put them all in danger. All he had wanted was to keep them safe, out of harm's way, but because of him they had been drawn into it. They had never once accused him, however; not even when their friends started dying had they said it was his fault. But he knew it was. Had it not been for him none of this would have happened in the first place. Had he not been who he was, he would have been killed at the age of one. Many times he had wondered if it all had been worth his remaining alive. If he had died, he wouldn't have been there to mess up their lives.

That was why he had left when everything was over. He knew that he was considered a hero, something he could not understand. He was no hero. He had just been a boy. The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Save-The-Wizarding-World. A lost boy who couldn't have done it without the help of others.

_Had just been a boy._ Yes, at the beginning of it all. But now.. what was he now? He himself could not even answer that queston. He was someone who, in a few years, had experienced things that no one should have to experience in a lifetime, and it had changed him into this sorry excuse for a man. This man, who had left everybody he had once held dear to live on his own. However, he wasn't quite alone. The guilt never left him – the guilt for those who had died.

He reached inside the sleeve of his robe, and found his wand. As his fingers closed around the familiar piece of wood, he closed his eyes tightly. Maybe, just maybe, there was a way to repay all those who had lost someone because of him.

**_Chad Kroeger-Hero_**

_I am so high, I can hear heaven_

_I am so high, I can hear heaven_

_Whoa, but heaven_

_No, heaven don't hear me_

_And they say that_

_a hero could save us_

_I'm not gonna stand here and wait_

_I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles_

_watch as they all fly away_

_Someone told me_

_Love would all save us_

_But, how can that be_

_Look what love gave us_

_A world full of killing_

_And blood spilling_

_That world never came_

_And they say that_

_a hero could save us_

_I'm not gonna stand here and wait_

_I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles_

_Watch as they all fly away_

_Now that the world isn't ending_

_It's love that I'm sending to you_

_Isn't the love of a hero_

_And that's why I fear it won't do_

_And they say that_

_a hero could save us_

_I'm not gonna stand here and wait_

_I'll hold onto the wings of an eagle's_

_Watch as they all fly away_

_And they're watching us _

_They're watching us_

_As we all fly away _


End file.
